Respect for tradition

Vinery Günther Steinmetz

The vinery

Our grapes grow and develop on about 9 hectare on the fields surrounding Brauneberg and its neighboring communities.

In addition to the hallmark of our winery, the Brauneberger Juffer location, there are also allotments in the traditional sites of Kestener Paulinshofberg, Piersporter Goldtröpfen, Wintricher Geierslay and Oligberg, Mühlheimer Sonnenlay, Veldenzer Grafschafter Sonnenberg , as well as Dhroner Hofburg, from which we produce our best Rieslings and Pinot Noirs.

A controlled low harvest amount , a precise grape selection (all of which are picked and sorted by hand), in addition to a gentle grape treatment without mechanical pressure, ensures the highest quality.

Since 1999 Stefan Steinmetz has had the main responsibility for the wine production. The transition to the next generation enabled not only the continuation of the traditional winery, but also an improvement in all areas of vinification through proven, newly-acquired knowledge and modern production techniques.

The center of the meticulous work in the vinery and cellar is the discovery of the typicity of each individual location. In every vintage and every position, considering the geological and climatic conditions, a maximum of quality is attempted.

The production utilizes mostly organic methods. These consist of environmentally-friendly winegrowing, including rejecting fertilizer as well as herbicides and insecticides.

The targeted acquisition of old, root genuine Riesling parcels also belongs to our vision of quality.

In our wine cellar there is a strict prohibition of any use of yeasts and accelerators, in addition to acidic additives or de-acidifiers. Similarly, no animal proteins are used. All wines are, without exception, fermented in wood or steel barrels. The result is individual, characteristic and extremely storable wines, which can only be described as unique.

How we think - how we work

We think that sustainable wine-production in the middle-Moselle region is closely linked to respect for tradition.

Firstly, respect for tradition means confining the cultivation of historic slate slopes to the prominent locations, where great wines have been produced throughout the centuries.

Therefore we limit ourselves to the classic grape varieties.

We are committed to an organic viniculture. For great wines can only arise in harmony with nature.

In our wine cellar we reject all additives.

We believe that the use of yeasts, enzymes and miscellaneous aids in the vinification leads to mass-produced wines, which counteract the uniqueness of our region.

We feel that the great wines of the Moselle require time. Their maturing potential and longevity are world-famous.

This is how it was in the past and how it should remain in the future. So, and with this in mind, we operate.

"... Steinmetz proves himself not just a sensitive and tireless explorer of the old vine and site-specific potential trapped in little known and or out-of-the-way Middle Mosel places, but also a master of stylistically-distinctive and ridiculously under-priced gems, including several for which the word "intro-level" cannot be used without scare quotes. These wines are also noteworthy for the frequency with which they combine leesy richness and textural allure with alcoholic levity and perfectly-integrated hidden sweetness." – David Schildknecht